Driveline vibration answers

[62Lesabre]

Looks like I found the culprit of my driveline vibration 😂

[NTX5467]

Yep, looks like you need a new one.  Finding one might be a trick.  I suspect they are still out there, just need to find the right place.  Possibly an old driveshaft shop that has been around "since the cars were newer".  The bad thing, even if you might find an NOS one, that the rubber in it will be old to start with, which can mean "old and dried-out" a bit, so it might bre a bit fragile to start with.

 

For the best longevity, you'll also need to address where that oil/sand accumulation came from and fix that FIRST, while the shaft is out of the car.

 

Were there any shims between the mounting point and the rubber?

 

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[62Lesabre]

They are still around new. Found one on ebay. Not sure on the shims. Just has two rings on either side of the bearing im guessing to keep dirt/dust out of it. 

[drhach]

Did your vibration go away after you installed it? 

[Smartin]

James at Best Offer Counts has the carrier bearing new.  Also, check to make sure that double cardan joint behind the carrier isn't sloppy before you replace the carrier.  Find a local driveshaft shop and they can get it installed for you.

[NTX5467]

On ANY carrier bearing, make sure the water shields are on both sides of the bearing itself!  On our '69 Chevy pickup (which has a 2-piece driveshaft, every so often the bearing would get noisy, so we'd take it to the dealer to get it replaced.  One time, the prior replacement ended up with a bent shield, so it wore through the rubber surrounding the bearing in the housing.  Squeaked until it finally wore though the rubber it was touching. 

 

On the bearing replacement after that, the tech threw away the shields as "They aren't needed.  It's a sealed bearing", which made sense.  Yet within two years (about 30K miles), the bearing was noisy again.  Taking it apart, getting the plastic protectors out of the way, the bearing was full of sand.  So much for the "sealed bearing" idea!  So we ordered some new water shields and made sure nothing touched.  That was the last carrier bearing we needed to put in it. 

 

NTX5467 

[62Lesabre]

Terrible no good, very bad vibration/clunking is GONE! Drives so nice now. Like a Buick should. Still going to replace the transmission crossmember and transmission mount, as the crossmember is damaged and the mount is old and rotted. BUT what a difference that center carrier bearing made wow!